Big city life in small living quarters

I’ve had the same sofa for years now, which I inherited from a friend with great taste, and it’s not the beauty it used to be. One day it was fresh and bouncy with a crisp, clean white canvas cover. Those were the days when there weren’t little bodies jumping all over it and snacks actually stayed in they’re containers. It’s a modern piece from Ligne Roset that is very hard to find these days, so I truly appreciate it for what it is, but life has changed for us, and our needs are different. Enter the word parent. Since we now have three under five, white doesn’t really work for us and being in a small living space, a sofa that offers a sleeper option with extra storage space is a huge plus, so I set out to find a good replacement. I found that Ikea had such a thing in their Frieheten design. It’s a sectional that turns into a full size bed and it has storage under the chaise area. It comes in a dark grey, which I loved the thought of. I looked around on Craigslist immediately to see what the resale cost was going for. I found some for roughly $300 to $400, a free even less, but I wasn’t ready to make any moves. After all, I still had to think about what I would do with the yellowing Smala sofa. I eventually stopped searching for it and gave up on the idea. Months later, I happen to be looking into my Next-door email and found that someone was giving one away for FREE! The exact same style, color, and fabric that I was eyeing!! I rushed to contact the woman about it and feel a surge of panic… What if she hadn’t gotten my message? What if she didn’t feel reassured that I could pick it up right away? Did I leave my phone number? I was sure that this was going to be another upset in my furniture find moments. But then, I received a message from her. I had been the first one to contact her. She said it was mine if I could pick up that day. I was so stoked and nervous. I still had to convince the hubby that this was the perfect addition to our space AND he’d have to do all the labor for us. After writing him a lengthy text of pleading, he responded with a simple OK. I was so excited!! We coordinated that afternoon and as soon as I got home, he and his friend headed out to go and get it. The rest of the evening was spent moving things around and assembling the sofa together. It was in excellent condition and we couldn’t have been happier. Now, it’s been a few months and I still need to do some redecorating around it, but we’re still very pleased with it. I’m amazed at how everything worked out and feel very blessed. I know that living in a big city comes with these kinds of perks, which I definitely appreciate! I don’t have any good pictures, yet, but I’ll post some soon!!